Falling 4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks Saturday in the opener of their six-game road trip, for the eighth time in 11 games, the Detroit Red Wings failed to get more than two goals in a game, even though they had significant zone time and directed 30 shots on the Vancouver net.
“I’m happy lots of nights we play and other nights we don’t look very good or very organized or compete as hard as we should, but the league is too tight so you don’t have to come off it very far not to win,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said, pointing to Vancouver’s 3-2 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in their previous game as a prime example of this fact of NHL life.
“I think you see Vancouver playing LA the other night, Vancouver is a real good team, real organized, but sometimes you just don’t have it the way you’d like to have it and it doesn’t go your way.
“You can’t come off it very much in this league.…
Working The Late Shift For just the second time this season, the Wings played a game outside of the Eastern time zone as they saw their three-game winning streak against the Canucks come to an end, including a 5-3 victory earlier this season at Joe Louis Arena. Also ending was Detroit’s streak of eight consecutive games of gaining at least one point when Vancouver was the opposition.
Babcock wondered what effect the three-hour change to the Pacific time zone would take on his team.
“The reality is the game started at 10 o’clock body clock time,… Babcock said. “Most guys are going to sleep at that time, not getting jacked up to play a game.…
Miller’s Time Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller made 29 saves won for just the second time in nine NHL decisions (2-7) against his younger brother Drew and it was a tough night for the Red Wings forward.
He was robbed early in the game via a spectacular reaction right pad save by his brother and on Vancouver’s second goal, Drew Miller inadvertently knocked the puck away from Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard right to goal scorer Radim Vrbata, who rifled it home over the prone Howard.
Overall, Ryan Miller improved to 3-10-2 against the Red Wings.
Ouellet Shines Playing just his 11th NHL game, defenseman Xavier Ouellet turned in another strong performance, continuing to make a case that he deserves a regular spot along the Detroit blue-line. Ouellet saw plenty of action in the third period as the Wings sought to rally from a two-goal deficit.
“He’s smart, he can make plays,… Detroit center Luke Glendening said. “He’s a good guy to have around for sure.…
Ouellet finished with 15:34 in ice time and Babcock offered a simple explanation of why the 21-year-old rookie has earned his trust.
“He’s a good player,… Babcock said. “He knows how to play. He competes hard, moves the puck, and has got good hockey sense.
“He’s been effective for us.…
Tatar Tallies Scoring Detroit’s lone goal, Tomas Tatar took sole possession of the Red Wings goal-scoring lead with 16, one more than Gustav Nyquist.
Tatar scored 19 times last season, which was second-best on the team behind the 28 netted by Nyquist.
“What I see is he’s a guy who loves hockey, loves to score and he’s in a journey to become an elite player in the National Hockey League and as long as he keeps working on his details and is committed to doing it all the time, he’s going to get there,… Babcock said. “That’s the biggest challenge for a young player.
“What allowed you to be good last year isn’t good enough this year and in the years to come. You’ve got to keep getting better if you want to be the best. That’s what guys like (Pavel) Datsyuk and (Henrik) Zetterberg have done.
“So for our young players, they have great examples there and we’ve got a ways to go.…
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